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Justice News

Indictments Unsealed Against Arapahoe Man and Tennessee Man Charging Felon in Possession of a Firearm and Misprision of Felony

Acting United States Attorney Robert C. Stuart announced that an indictment has been unsealed charging Anthony Todd Weverka, age 54 of Arapahoe, Nebraska, with Misprision of Felony. The charge alleges Weverka knew of the existence of felony offenses, specifically Solicitation to Commit a Crime of Violence and Attempted Kidnapping, and did not disclose them to authorities, and concealed those offenses through affirmative acts. The charge carries a possible penalty of up 3 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, or both. Weverka was taken into custody by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday, May 1, 2017, in Arapahoe. His initial appearance before Magistrate Judge Cheryl Zwart is scheduled for May 2, 2017, at 2:00 p.m. at the federal courthouse in Lincoln, Nebraska.

According to the indictment, Weverka served as the President of the Arapahoe Airport Board. In that capacity, he met an individual, referred to in the indictment as “M.P.”, who flew a plane to the airport and asked to spend the night on the premises. The man was a fugitive from justice after having failed to appear for trial on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm in Tipton County, Tennessee. The indictment also alleges the man represented himself to be an ambassador and associate chief justice of the Chilcotin Nation in British Columbia, Canada. The man was arrested at the airport by federal, state and local law enforcement authorities.

Following his arrest, M.P. was transported to the Furnas County Jail in Beaver City, Nebraska, where he was held pending extradition to the State of Tennessee. The indictment alleges that another individual, referred to as “S.H.” in the indictment, and holding herself out as the Chief Justice of the Universal Supreme Court of the Tshilhqot’in Nation, (USCTN), a self-proclaimed body purporting to represent the “country” of Chilcotin, issued orders demanding the release of M.P.. When her court “orders” were ignored, the indictment alleges she contacted a bounty hunter in New Orleans, Louisiana, and offered to pay to have the bounty hunter break M.P. out of jail, arrest the Sheriff of Furnas County and the presiding Judge in Tipton County, Tennessee, and transport all of them to Canada where the Sheriff and Judge would face purported criminal charges.

The indictment alleges Weverka learned of the plot to take the Sheriff of Furnas County into custody and did not immediately disclose the same to law enforcement authorities. It further alleges Weverka spoke repeatedly with the woman in Canada holding herself out as the Chief Justice of the USCTN and, further, that he supplied the home address of the Sheriff to her. After learning of the plot, it is alleged Weverka warned the Sheriff that his life might be in danger but did not disclose his full knowledge of the planned abduction. The indictment alleges Weverka committed the crime of Misprision of Felony by concealing the crime through false statements, omissions of material facts and continuing to provide assistance to those whom he believed were involved in the plot.

In a separate indictment, Michael Wayne Parsons, age 55 of Arlington, Tennessee, is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Specifically, it alleges Parsons, after conviction of the felony offense of aggravated assault on November 23, 2009, in the Circuit Court of Tipton County, Tennessee, was located in Nebraska on January 11, 2017, while in possession of a Rock River 5.56 LAR-15 assault rifle and 637 rounds of ammunition. The charge carries a possible penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine or both. Parsons is currently in custody in the State of Tennessee awaiting trial of other charges.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Furnas County Sheriff’s Office, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Nebraska State Patrol and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Indictments are charging documents that contain one or more individual counts that are merely accusations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.